Update was from 3 days ago, I'm really hopeful ladybird could be a future browser option to help break the stranglehold chrome has over the market, while Mozilla is struggling to find meaningful direction.

It seems like an exciting project with monthly progress updates :) they keep chipping away at compatibility.

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Wouldn't forking Mozilla provide a stronger base than an entirely new browser?

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not if it ties the fork into specific licenses. The other issue is that the internet should not be dominated by two and a half engines (Safari's being the half). It creates an environment where they can collude to force the direction of the internet, where they are potential single points of failure, or where they can force users into bad terms of service.

Take this hypothetical: I make Super Browser (SB), but I fork it from Firefox (FF). SB looks and functions completely differently from FF, but it still uses FF's Gecko engine to render the web. No matter what changes I make, I'm still at the mercy of Mozilla and their priorities.

This leaves few choices for developers and users alike, and it doesn't encourage the companies at the top to innovate. Because, what are people gonna do? Leave? For what alternative?

[–] Prontomomo@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I’m confused, why is Safari half a rendering engine? Isn’t that WebKit, which was the original rendering engine of Chrome, and the engine used by DuckDuckGo browser on macOS and any browser in iOS? I thought it constituted a full engine, curious on your take.

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I thought it constituted a full engine, curious on your take.

Two reasons:

It is often a last consideration for web devs. If I had a dollar for every time WebKit broke just at my work...
I don't like Apple, so since it's my dumb comparison, they get demerits for being a stupid walled garden that's hard to leave.

It's mostly that last one for me. It's indeed a valid engine, but my understanding is that it's not particularly great to work with. Either way, you can just take my comment as a thinly veiled dig at Apple.

[–] Prontomomo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Totally get it.

I just started using the Orion browser from Kagi. It’s actually using WebKit underneath and is kind of like Safari but outside the walled garden (minus sync which requires iCloud right now).

They only support macOS and iOS/iPadOS right now, but are working on Linux & Windows versions.

Worth a shot imo